Only half of men can remember their last medical check-up

A new national survey about men and their cars, commissioned by Orlando Health, found that more than 80 percent of men could remember the make and model of their first car, but only about half could remember the last time they went to the doctor for a check-up.

The survey of approximately 1,000 men is being released in conjunction with the start of the Drive For Men's Health, a cross-country event where two of the top men's health surgeons in the US will travel 6,008 miles to promote awareness on various men's health topics. It was conducted by Harris Interactive online within the United States from May 20-22, 2015 among 927 adult men ages 18 and older. 795 men (81 percent) could remember the make and model of their first car, 532 (54percent) could remember the last time they went to the doctor for a check-up.

"Men need to take better care of themselves, period," said Dr. Sijo Parekattil, co-founder of the the Drive for Men's Health and co-director of the PUR (Personalized Urology & Robotics) Clinic at South Lake Hospital, in affiliation with Orlando Health. "It's a message we want to get to as many men as possible, and we're willing to drive cross country to do it."

Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, the other co-founder of the Drive for Men's Health and co-director of the PUR Clinic, points out that men in general live sicker throughout their lives and die younger than women. In 1920, women outlived men by only one year. Today, men die five years earlier. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that women are 100 percent more likely to visit their doctor for an annual check up than men.

"Your body's essentially like a car," said Dr. Brahmbhatt. "You need to get checks done per recommendation, per guidelines every one year, five years, ten years, whatever the guidelines are. But the only difference between a car and your body is you only have one body."